pets that were lost or abandoned in the storm. randi kaye brings us up to date. >> reporter: robert is on the move. on this day, he and his team from guardians of rescue are in staten island trying to find, feed and save pets lost or abandoned during super storm sandy. >> we are going to leave you kitty litter. we will leave you dog food and cat food. >> reporter: robert's team has rescued 100 cats so far. he says residents underestimated the amount of water the storm would bring so pets either drowned or ran far from home to escape the rushing water. of those found -- >> many of them are suffering from stress to start. some of the cats had blood in their urine. some had internal injuries. some of them had exterior wounds. we found several cats with sea water in their lungs. >> reporter: it's a big job which is why robert called on his friend hush, a hip-hop artist from detroit. hush is a rapper but he's also an animal lover, who has helped animal rescue efforts in his hometown. hush's contacts in detroit donated nearly 8,000 pounds of dog and cat food. then he drove 12 hours through t

reason to be thankful. randi kaye, cnn, staten island. >> so many victims, humans and animals. >>> still ahead, new developments in a story we reported last night. the man who claimed he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a man who has been the voice of elmo for nearly three decades is changing his story. retracting his charges. what he now says really happened. >> announcer: you never know when, but thieves can steal your identity and turn your life upside down. >> hi. >> hi. you know, i can save you 15% today if you open up a charge card account with us. >> you just read my mind. >> announcer: just one little piece of information and they can open bogus accounts, stealing your credit, your money and ruining your reputation. that's why you need lifelock to relentlessly protect what matters most... [beeping...] helping stop crooks before your identity is attacked. and now you can have the most comprehensive identity theft protection available today... lifelock ultimate. so for protection you just can't get anywhere else, get lifelock ultimate. >> i didn't know how s

storm that took so much from so many, a reason to be thankful. randi kaye, cnn, staten island. >> so many victims, humans and animals. >>> still ahead, new developments in a story we reported last night. the man who claimed he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a man who has been the voice of elmo for nearly three decades is changes his story. retracting his charges. ♪ [ camera clicks ] ♪ it's hard to resist the craveable nature of a nature valley sweet & salty nut bar. then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists can help you build a personalized plan. and with our no annual fee iras and a wide range of low cost investments, you can execute the plan you want at a low cost. so meet with us, or go to etrade.com for a great retirement plan with low cost investments. ♪ a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active

>>> good morning, everyone. i'm randi kaye. >> i'm victor blackwell. it's 8:00 on the east coast, 5:00 out west. thank you for starting your day with us. >> we start with the shocking revelation from the now former cia director, general david petraeus. petraeus resigned from his post citing an extramarital affair. he had met personally with the president thursday to offer his resignation. the president reluctantly accepted friday. the general's affair was actually uncovered during an investigation by the fbi. the fbi's involvement has raised questions with at least one former cia operative. >> i'm not going to, but there are four or five cia directors that i know were carrying on extramarital affairs while they were director. the fbi was never brought in. the office of security was never brought in. it was ignored. it went away quietly. we'll never know about them. so this is absolutely extraordinary. i'm telling you it's more to do than with sex. there's something going on here which i can't explain and i think we're going to find out very soon. >> petraeus took over as cia chief a

twitter. "cnn saturday morning" with randi kaye continues right now. >>> from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, this is "cnn saturday morning." battling over benghazi, lawmakers are furious. the president is standing his ground. and there is still no one in custody. all morning, we're putting the conflict and the players in focus. on the brink of war as fighting escalates between israel and hamas, experts say there will likely be a lot more bloodshed before the violence stops. and it's the gaffe that has some republicans shaking their heads. why mitt romney says obama won because of the gifts he gave. >>> good morning, everyone. i'm randi kaye. it is 10:00 on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. on the west. we start in gaza this hour, as people there have to fear death from above. israeli war planes have been relentless in their attacks on targets in gaza. they are hunting rocket launchers, but dozens of civilians have been killed as a result. the latest round of this conflict started wednesday, and there is no end in sight. sarah sidener is in gaza city for us. what are you seei

by randi kaye, live in woodbridge, virginia. good morning. >> reporter: it will be an interesting election day here in virginia. no doubt, 13 electoral votes up for grab grabs. people were here about 4:40 a.m. this morning trying to get in. i guess they were expecting long lines because they don't have early voting here in virginia. they have in-person absentee voting. you need a good excuse not to show up on election day. they also have the new voter i.d. law. what's going to be interesting today is the demographics and seeing how they play out. it's the old virginia versus the new virginia. the old virginia is the -- it's very republican, religious, white working class. the new virginia is urban diverse. that's what helped get obama elected here by 6 percentage points back in '08. also the economy. people will be looking at that. this is a robust economy in virginia, 5.2% unemployment. we'll see how that plays into all of this as well. john? >> all right, randi kaye, live in virginia. polls close at 7:00 p.m. >>> the new york metro area is still reeling from superstorm sandy, no

p.m. eastern time. it is one to watch early. and randi kaye is live in woodbridge, virginia. good morning, randi. >> good morning, john. we're in prince william county, and virginia likes to think of itself this year as the new ohio. and they mean business. we have seen a steady stream of folks here coming to vote. probably a couple hundred right now. there are 2600 registered voters for the precinct that we're at. they don't have any early voting here in virginia so they are coming out today. a couple things that we're watching are the demographics. it's the old virginia versus the new virginia. the old virginia is republican. religious. white working class. the new virginia is diverse and more urban. that's who helped get obama elected, winning by about 6% back in 2008. we'll also be watching the economy. the economy is fairly robust. 5.2% unemployment. housing prices are going up. the jobs are coming back. mitt romney having a hard time making that same argument. against obama that he has failed in terms of the economy here in the state ofva. and, of course, we'll be watching t

. >>> it is 29 minutes past the hour. welcome back, everyone. i'm randi kaye. >> i'm victor blackwell. a beautiful warm day here in the studio. >> it sure is. >> you follow us on twitter. we have been in negotiations over the temperature in the studio. >> i win. >> it's like nairobi in here. it's like 106 degrees. >> i can't help it. i like it like that. >> i'm cloaked in wool. here are some of the stories we are watching this morning. kicking things off, it's a $7 trillion mix of tax hikes and spending cuts that some fear could tip the u.s. back into recession. i'm talking about the fiscal cliff and it goes into effect just 52 days from now, unless a deal can be reached. both president obama and house speaker john boehner say they are willing to negotiate. but tax hikes are a sticking point. president obama will meet with congressional leaders on the issue next week. >>> and in florida, it is all over, but the vote count, as the state tries to finalize its tally of the presidential election. unofficial results are due to the secretary of state by noon today. cnn has yet to project a win

suicide. randi kaye profiled another young man who went through so-called reparative therapy with traumatic results. here's his story. >> reporter: when ryan was 13, his mother read his diary and discovered he was gay. that was the beginning of the most painful years of his life. >> for years, i thought that god hated me because i was gay. >> reporter: ryan says his parents were determined to change him. they signed him up for what's called reparative therapy with the national association for research and therapy of homosexuality, otherwise known as n.a.r.t.h. the therapy, aimed at changing sexual orientation, has been used for decades as a way to turn potentially gay children straight. >> every day i would hear this is a choice. this can be fixed. >> reporter: did you believe that? >> i never believed that. i know i'm gay just like i know i'm short and i'm half hispanic. i never thought those facts would change. it's part of my core fundamental identity. so the parallel would be sending me to tall camp and saying if you try really hard, one day you can be 6'1". >> reporter: ryan

, with no odor. so all you notice is relief. aspercreme. >>> welcome back, i'm rand randi kaye. first up, an extramarital affair ended the career of general david petraeus. after being married for over 37 years, i showed extremely poor judgment. such behavior is unacceptable as a husband and as a leader of an organization such as ours. michael morell will step in, he has been deputy director since may of 2010. turning to the economy, with just 52 days to reach a deal, president obama is set to meet with congressional leader this is week to address the so-called fiscal cliff. the president and house speaker boehner signaling their open to compromise, but tax hikes on the rich remain a ticking point, and today is declared malala day. this is new video of malala recovering at a hospital in london. you see her there with her father. he got a outpouring of support. today marks one month since that attack. number four, people made home less by superstorm sandy are finding relief. fema set up a camp to help thousands of people affected. fema officials say sand sandy vs will be moved into better

money. my choice. my meineke. >>> welcome back to cnn sunday morning. i'm randi kaye. here are some of the stories that we're watching right now. today is expected to be one of the busiest travel days of the year. pack some patience. nearly 2.5 million thanksgiving holiday travellers will be catching a flight back home. millions more will be on the road. triple-a projecting 43.6 million americans are traveling during this long holiday weekend. that is, three million more than last year. >>> in washington one person is in critical condition after being injured in a fire at the state department. three others were also hurt. it's unmn what actually sparked the fire. it seemed to have started many some duct work. construction crews working in the building put it out. >>> a big animal rescue operation out of tennessee now. in fact, it may be the state's biggest. firefighters were responding to a brush fire on thanksgiving when they found 65 dogs chained up at this property. all needing food and water and, of course, medical attention. it's believed they were being kept for some illegal d

there. >> the means to the end of randi kaye. >> when we come back, moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. governor ed rendell and s.e.cupp. keep it right here on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. an